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[REVIEW] “You’re The One I Don’t Want” By: Carrie Aarons

Official Synopsis:

Love is weakness.

Which is why Annabelle Mills vowed a long time ago to never let it destruct her. A former pageant queen with a bite equally as lethal as her bark, she’s interning at her dream job on the set of the highest-rated home design show on television. Everything in Annabelle’s life, though it may be cold and isolated, is going exactly as she always planned.

Until her ex-high school sweetheart moves to town. The same boy that she cheated on, once upon a time, essentially breaking both of their hearts. But no one knows the full story, and being vulnerable enough to open up about it is not on Annabelle’s checklist.

Hate is fuel.

The kind that courses through Boone Graham’s veins and allows him to shut out everyone around him. As the hottest rookie on Austin’s professional baseball team, he should be spending his days hitting home runs and signing jerseys. Except he’s seen dreams ripped right out from under those closest to him, leaving them with nothing.

Without a college degree, he’ll never take the risk of pursuing his real dream. But when he runs into the girl who took a mallet to his heart and stopped it beating, attending the same university might just be the biggest challenge he’s faced yet.

As the semester unfolds, the line between love and hate is blurred. And with the amount of baggage stacked between them, together is the last thing they want to be.

That’s the thing about hearts, though. They develop plans all on their own.

(via Goodreads)

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Review:

A fun novel that fans of “The Tenth Girl” will love!

“You’re The One I Don’t Want” can be read as a standalone, but it’s actually the companion novel to Carrie’s other book, “The Tenth Girl.” This review is being posted a bit after my “The Tenth Girl” review, but I actually read the books back to back, which is something that I would highly recommend. We get to see Harper and Cain pop up multiple times in this book. I absolutely adored them in “The Tenth Girl,” so I was so excited to see them a few years in the future.

“You’re The One I Don’t Want” is set in college, which Annabelle in her junior year and Boone in his senior year. Having the setting be college doesn’t mean that the majority of the book revolves around the characters being in college, but if you’re looking for books set in college, this is a good one to pick up.

We get to take a closer look into Annabelle’s life, since the book is told from both her POV and Boone’s POV. Both of them are complex, dynamic characters, and it’s interesting to see how they interact with each other throughout the book, especially knowing the history between the two of them.

Annabelle’s relationship with Harper and Cain has certainly evolved since we first met her in “The Tenth Girl.” This book really shows how there’s a lot more to her than the typical shallow-beauty-pageant-mean-girl, and I think that Carrie does a good job redeeming Annabelle from her previous actions.

Annabelle has a great relationship with Ramona and James, the couple whose home renovation show she is now on. They’re nothing but supportive of her and her career throughout the book, and are sort of parental figures for her. Annabelle is an interior design major. This aspect of the book reminded me of R.S. Grey’s “The Design.”

Boone is equally as dynamic of a character. His feelings of hatred towards Annabelle are easy to understand, but I think that his transition from hate-to-love felt pretty natural. Like Annabelle, he has a complex family dynamic, which we see pop up a few times throughout the book. Him putting aside professional baseball until he got his college degree is really admirable–I’m a sophomore in college now, and while I know it’s important to finish my degree, and multi-million dollar offer would be very enticing. Overall, he’s an interesting character, and I was glad that we got to see his view in the book as well.

Carrie has a lovely writing style that makes her books pretty quick and easy to read. I like how she writes in dual POV, and that not every chapter alternates between views. Overall, this was a cute book and I enjoyed reading it.